The Ultimate Body Language Book

Chapter 9 –Defensive And Aggressive Body Language
The Security Blanket
Playing with a sleeve of cufflink is a leaked gesture because it replaces a full arm cross but still
provides the feeling of comfort.
As we get older we are taught that certain behaviours and habits are unacceptable. Carrying a security
blanket, for example, while acceptable as a toddler is unbecoming in grade school so it is weaned.
Perhaps as a by-product of our recent, in evolutionary terms at least, bipedalism, we’ve failed to fully
adjust methods of keep our hands busy. Bipedalimsm is the term used to describe walking on two feet
which is rare in the animal kingdom. When under pressure, our hands and arms are the first to feel out
of place and give away our awkwardness. Even those that spend a lot of time in front of large audiences
can still be found with “security blankets”, as it were whose purpose is to keep busy our free
appendages.
The cuff link is a common choice for men attending formal affairs because it gives their hands a use
instead of dangling awkwardly as they walk. Next time you see a televised awards show watch
carefully as a presenter or an award winner make his way up to the stage, he just might show his
awkwardness by fingering his cufflink. Reaching across the body in this way is also an abbreviated arm
cross since the hands come out in front of the body forming a barrier, in this case a loose loop.